“Rachel? Can you
come take a look at this?” The young boowen nurse looked anxious and tapped her
hindclaws on the tiled floor. Rachel sighed. Boowen didn’t wear shoes well, but
it still bothered her to see bare feet in the ICU. But Kibya had a good head on
her shoulders and good instincts, so Rachel put down her charts and stood,
stretching her arms and trying not to stare at the still-unfamiliar silver nets
she wore under her scrubs.
“What’s up,
Kibya?” She said, rolling her neck. She fought back a chuckle as Kibya looked
up in alarm. Boowen were extremely literal. “I mean, what do you need?”
Kibya led her
down the hall to the far IC Unit. Two immense shantuck males stood guard at the
door. Rachel raised her eyebrows, but held her hands flat in front of her as
she passed them. They gave no response to her gesture of respect, but they did
not block her way. She had proven herself more than once. Shantuck guards? This
was going to be good. She smiled, barely remembering to cover her teeth with
her lips as she opened the door.
Good thing, too.
The largest demon she had ever seen lay on the table, black blood dripping from
its eyes, nose and mouth. She scanned down the table and saw more blood. It was
coming from underneath the claws… This was no injury…
“Dammit!” She
shoved Kibya behind her and out the door. “Isolate! Isolate! Seal this room
now!” She slapped the alarm by the door and heard the reassuring whoosh of air
as the room was sealed. The demon turned its head and stared at her with golden
eyes. “Good,” it hissed, and she saw at least three forked tongues. “You
protect your people—”
“And you,”
Rachel retorted. She stood tall and spread her arms wide. She couldn’t
overpower so much as a peltew, but demons seemed to respond best when she put
on her most confident nurse’s face. She took a slow, deep breath and stepped
forward. “Now, let me see what’s wrong with you.”
“Aren’t you
afraid of me? Of this?” The demon held up a long forearm and its golden eyes
watched the blood drip down onto the tiles below.
Rachel ignored
the taunt—or threat—and focused on the blood. Her vision narrowed, and all the
light in the room seemed to shine directly on the thick black flow. She wasn’t
conscious of moving forward, until she leaned over the demon’s face and looked
directly into its eyes. The golden lens was filled with tiny black veins,
slowly filling the demon’s sight with its own death.
Rachel pressed
her hand on the demon’s shoulder, rubbing the sensitive spot that seemed to
calm almost every demon species she’s met so far. “You’re not going to die on
my watch.”
The demon hissed
in quick breaths, and it took Rachel a moment to realize it was laughing. “Good,
human. I give my life to you then, if you can save it.”
Rachel snatched her
hand away. She knew a demon oath when she heard one. What was she going to do
with another bound demon? Well, time enough for that later. She nodded and
stepped back to the panel by the door. Tapping the button, she said with a
calmness that the hospital staff had learned to pay close attention, “Where is
Nazu? And Dr. Ablidioni. Stat.”
Note:
Rachel's story started last summer and has continued in these posts:
Dogs
in House
|
Houdini
|
Music
|
Styx, Paradise
Theater
|
Time
writing
|
~40 minutes
|
April
word count
|
3,194
|
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